


Lily & Begonia

by SaltinesAndPeanutButter



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Autistic Character, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 17:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17268449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltinesAndPeanutButter/pseuds/SaltinesAndPeanutButter
Summary: There will be no more chapters to this work. However, I may expand on it although it will not have a linear story. The idea for this "series" is that all four pearls are autistic, although I have the most evidence for CG Pearl and White's Pearl. In my mind, CG Pearl is an autistic person who is more on the hyperverbal side and comes across as knowledgeable and wise, if a little chatty and dorky, and can pass as allistic sometimes. White's Pearl (I theorize, anyway) was likely an autistic person who couldn't pass as allistic and therefore was given the gem version of a transorbital lobotomy in order to make her more obedient. Lobotomies were marketed as a one size fits all solution when they were popular, and they were used to "cure" anyone ranging from the depressed to even a wife who didn't obey her husband as much as he would like her to. Of course, we know now that lobotomies are unethical and should not be performed for any reason, however that does not change the past. Lobotomies were just a symptom of a larger disease plaguing society- ableism.





	Lily & Begonia

**Author's Note:**

> Ran out of room in the summary lmao. Anyway, the premise for this "series" is that all the Diamonds have been poofed and bubbled/shattered (except Steven!) and all the pearls are living on earth with the crystal gems. This doesn't have to be seen as shippy between CG Pearl and White Pearl but guess what I'm a sucker for people recovering with each other, so that was my intention and why I've tagged it as F/F. Like I said I may or may not expand on this. The pearls are definitely my favorite characters in Steven Universe, there's so much to explore with them in regards to trauma and how brainwashing works, I wish in the show they'd be more explicit with how they're a slave class but I know that there are limits to what you can put on a kid's show.

Pearl spent all night sitting on the couch in the living room staring at the ceiling.  She usually busied herself during the hours that Steven slept, but not this time. Not tonight.

She got up from the couch and began to pace.

"How do I explain free will? How do I explain hobbies? How do I explain _fun_?" Pearl wondered aloud to herself. This was such a daunting task, and Pearl was especially anxious about dealing with White's Pea- wait. No, that wouldn't do. She didn't belong to her diamond any more than Pearl herself did. White Diamond was no more. Hmmm. They'd have to come up with separate names for all of them. That in and of itself will be a challenge.

"Ok, ok, so...free will..." Pearl mused to herself. She brought out a chalkboard from her gem and some chalk. It was a big thing, double-sided and on wheels. 

"A lesson plan will undoubtedly be the best way to deprogram them. It will be easy to grasp and straightforward." Pearl whispered.

"Free will," Pearl wrote on the chalkboard, followed by a colon and a simple definition: "The ability to do what you want for no other reason than your ability to make decisions."

She continued: "Fun: The feeling derived from engaging in an activity that you want to do and enjoy the process of."

Oh no. Pearl just thought of a problem. What if they take her lesson too literally, and start acting selfish and rude for no other reason than they want to? Furthermore, which is a better outcome morally speaking: a pearl who does behave selfishly and mean, but who has outgrown her programming, or a pearl who behaves kindly and with empathy who still clings to her programming?

Well, kindness and empathy are present in numerous egalitarian societies and within all sorts of organisms. Also, pearls on Homeworld aren't encouraged to have _empathy_ for their masters, but rather to _obey_ them blindly.

Problem solved! What a relief.

"Hobbies," Pearl wrote, "Are activities that you find fun (see previous definition) and devote a significant portion of your time to."

Pearl continued writing all the information she could think of that could help her fellow pearls, and had filled both sides of the chalkboard by sunrise. 

 ***

Pearl and Steven sat with who was formerly White Diamond's Pearl on the grass. The wind was blowing and she- White's former Pearl, that is, seemed enamored with it all. There was no wind on Homeworld.

"What do you think of these flowers?" Pearl asked, holding out a handful to the other pearl. She took them in her hand and brought them close to her face, observing the texture of the petals and rubbing them between the pads of her fingers. She smiled.

"You like them?" Pearl asked.

The other pearl nodded and kept smiling.

"They're called 'Lily of the Valleys,' and they're white. Just like you." Pearl told her, smiling serenely. Steven thought she looked so tender and somber, he could tell that these two had some type of history and knew more about each other than they were letting on. 

"Do you like the name 'Lily'?"

The other pearl nodded excitedly.

"Would you like to be called 'Lily?' We can't have four gems going by the same name, after all."

"Mhmm." Lily replied.

"Now," Pearl continued, "these are called Begonias." Pearl said, gesturing to the flower next to her knee. "They come in different colors, but they're mostly pink. So I'll go by Begonia from now on."

There was a lull in the conversation afterwards. Begonia scooted closer to Lily.

"I knew you before. I want to know you again. Who you were with White- that wasn't you. You can be you now. You can be Lily. Your own gem. You won't belong to anyone."

Steven seen something out of the corner of his eye- it was Lily quickly turning and hugging Begonia. After Lily pulled away, Begonia asked a sensitive yet important question.

"I know that you never talked around White. It was always her voice. So, how much can you speak?"

Lily looked perplexed. She opened her mouth but nothing came out for a few minutes. Then she managed to get out a "Not muuuuuuh."

"Not much? Is that right?" Begonia asked. Lily nodded.

"We'll need to get her a notebook and a pencil, then." Begonia said to Steven. He nodded.

Begonia summoned her phone out of her gem.

"This," she began, "is a 'smartphone.' It's a complex device, but there's one thing I want to show you." Begonia positioned herself beside Lily. She pulled up the notepad app and said:

"Emojis. They express emotion in pictures! This one is a simple happy smile. This one is exactly the same but its eyes are closed!"

Lily caught on quickly and soon began projecting emojis out of her gemstone. She beamed with joy. Begonia smiled serenely.

Things were going to be just fine.

 


End file.
